Japan braces for more rain after at least 19 die

In this July 12, 2012 photo, residential streets are submerged after a river overflowed its banks in Kumamoto, Kumamoto prefecture on Japan's southern island of Kyushu. Heavy rains hit southern Japan, triggering flashfloods, mudslides and destroying dozens of homes. (AP Photo/Yomiuri Shimbun, Masanobu Nakatsukasa) JAPAN OUT, CREDIT MANDATORY

TOKYO – Southwestern Japan was bracing for more torrential rain on Friday, on top of “unprecedented” downpours that left at least 19 people dead and eight missing as whole neighborhoods were swamped.

Television footage showed torrents of muddy water carrying uprooted trees and other debris, while rivers burst their banks and flooded towns and villages in the main southern island of Kyushu.

Reports showed residential streets in the city of Kumamoto buried in mud, while battered cars that had been swept away by flood water were left dumped on hillsides in scenes reminiscent of the March 2011 tsunami in the northeast.

In the city of Aso, landslides buried 17 households, killing at least 17 people with five more still missing, reports said.

Public broadcaster NHK showed rescuers continuing their search on Friday morning, using heavy machinery to remove uprooted trees, boulders and debris as rain continued to fall.

The weather had eased somewhat by Friday morning, but the Japan Meteorological Agency said it expected “very heavy rain” again in Kyushu later Friday.

The downpours were set to add to the misery for an area where 50,000 people were ordered to leave their homes on Thursday after it was lashed by the heaviest rainfall on record.

“We expect heavy rain on the same scale we saw yesterday will fall again today. We remain on the highest alert,” said a local official in badly-hit Oita prefecture.

An official in Kumamoto prefecture, neighbouring Oita, said at least 18 people were known to have died, with troops and rescuers continuing their search for seven still missing.

In Oita, a man in his 70s died after being swept into a raging river, while another man remained missing.

The weather agency urged residents of Kyushu to continue exercising vigilance against mudslides and floods after rainfall of 10.1 centimetres (about 4 inches) per hour was recorded in the southern region of Kagoshima early Friday.